Frying appliance

ABSTRACT

An improved frying appliance for frying foodstuffs, comprising a water-filled basin including a distributing disc having a plurality of openings therein and a spout providing communication between the space inside the basin with the atmosphere, a container for holding frying oil having a basket for receiving an article of food and a vent providing communication between the space inside the container and the space inside the basin so that fumes produced during frying operation are discharged through the vent into the water in the basin and are allowed to flow through the water in the form of bubbles, the bubbles being broken up into smaller bubbles as they float upward and squeeze their way into the openings of the distributing disc, and a lid arranged fluid-tightly on the rim of the container.

United States Patent [191 Sano et al.

[ Apr. 2, 1974 FRYING APPLIANCE [73] Assignee: Matsushita ElectricIndustrial Company, Limited, Kadome City, Japan 22 Filed: Oct. 10, 197221 Appl. No.: 296,048

Graswich et al 55/87 3,403,498 10/1968 Pasha 55/90 3,463,077 8/1969Lescure 99/403 3,618,587 11/1971 Lee, Sr. .1 99/403 X 3,633,340 l/l972Illingworth 55/DIG. 30

Primary Examiner-Peter Feldman Assistant ExaminerArthur 0. Henderson[57] ABSTRACT An improved frying appliance for frying foodstuffs,comprising a water-filled basin including a distributing disc having aplurality of openings therein and a spout providing communicationbetween the space inside the basin with the atmosphere, a container forholding frying oil having a basket for receiving an article of food anda vent providing communication between the space inside the containerand the space inside the basin so that fumes produced during fryingoperation are discharged through the vent into the water in the basinand are allowed to flow through the water in the form of bubbles, thebubbles being broken up into smaller bubbles as they float upward andsqueeze their way into the openings of the distributing disc, and a lidarranged fluid-tightly on the rim of the container.

10 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTED 2 SHEU 1 BF 3 AIENTEDAPR 2|974 3801 3 SHEU 2 [IF 3 FRYING APPLIANCE 'the cartridge placed in the exhaustpassage. While passing through the porous materials, objectionablegaseous materials are absorbed by the porous material through thesurface attraction of the porosity of the material. However, excessiveuse of such material would cause blockage of the exhaust passage of theescaping fumes, and consequently, frequent changing of the porousmaterial is necessary. This inevitably increases the total cost of thefrying appliance.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide animproved frying appliance wherein the total cost of the appliance iskept at minimum.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved fryingappliance which can effectively absorb objectionable fumes and odoursgiven off during frying operation.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved fryingappliance which utilizes water for absorbing objectionable fumes givenoff during frying operation.

These and other features of the invention will be more clearlyunderstood by reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a top perspective view of a frying appliance according to thepresent invention with a lid placed in position for use.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the basin of the fryingappliance with the distributing disc being shown in a disassembledposition.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the frying appliance taken along line l-lin FIG. 5.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the manually operated lever portion of thepresent invention.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the frying appliance taken along line 2-2in FIG. 3.

Briefly described, frying appliance of this invention has a containerfor holding frying oil which is detachably carried on a basin containingwater, and a vent pipe for establishing communication between the spaceinside the container and the space inside the basin. Fumes and odoursproduced during cooking are led through the exhaust pipe and releasedinto the water in the form of bubbles so that the fumes are cooled anddissolved into the water. The frying appliance of the invention furthercomprises a distributing disc arranged in the basing and having aplurality of openings therein so as to basin up the bubbles into smallerbubbles. This results in that the fumes sufficiently dissolve in thewater. The plurality of openings of the disc may be arranged radiallyand the outer openings may have larger diameter than the inner ones.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings wherein like numeralsindicate like parts throughout, there is shown a frying applianceaccording to the present invention. The frying appliance generallycomprises a cylindrical container 10 for holding frying oil, a basin 1 1arranged to carry thereon the container 10 for holding water to beutilized to absorb objectionable fumes and odours produced during fryingoperation, and a lid 12 placed in position for use over the container 10for providing a fluid-tight chamber in the container 10. The container10 which is, for example, made of stainless steel or aluminum sheetcarries on its bottom an armored contoured electric heater 13 includinga heating resistance of, for example, nichrome wire (not shown). Thecontoured heater 13 leads to the outside through the side wall of thecontainer 10 to ensure the supply of electric current. The heater 13 maybe spaced from the bottom of the container by means by a support member14 so as to reduce the amount of heat dissipated from the bottom of thecontainer 10. Overlying the heater ]3 is a shielding plate 15 which ispreferably dome-shaped and has a plurality of slots 16 preferably facingtoward the edge of the shielding plate 15, and a gutter 17 formed on theperipheral edge portion of the plate 15, so that the heater 13 isfavorably protected from the water droplets and slurry arising from thefoodstuff which is being fried. A control shaft 18 is journaled at anupper portion of the side wall of the container 10 and carries at theinner end a pinion 19 and at the outer end a hand knob 20. The pinion l9meshes with a rack 21 vertically slidably mounted on a guide member 22fastened on the side wall of the container 10. On the rack 21 isfastened a U-shaped support member 23 on which a basket 24 for holdingan article of food is detachably mounted. The basket 24 is desiredlyraised or lowered by manually turning the knob 20. A flange 25 made of aheat-resistive plastic is removably mounted on the rim 26 of thecontainer 10. A pair of grooves 27 and 28 are formed on the uppersurface of the flange 25. A gasket 29 made of a heatresistive elasticmaterial such as silicon rubber is snugly fitted into the groove 27. Avent pipe 30 is fastened to the inner side wall of the container 10 insuch a manner as to vertically extend in the vicinity of the inner sidewall. The upper end of the vent pipe 30 is positioned adjacent the rim26 and the lower end of the pipe 30 extends through an opening in thebottom of the container. The container 10 is further provided with apair of legs 52 on the lower side of its bottom.

The lid 12 includes a handle member 31 pivotally mounted at one endthereof to a support member 32 secured to the outer wall of thecontainer 10 and a dome-shaped cover member 33 'secured to the handle 31by means of screw members 34. The cover member 33 has on its edge acircular wall bent downwardly and outwardly so that the cover member 33is brought into air-tight contact with the gasket 29 when the lid isplaced in the closed position. The cover member 33 may have at thecentral portion thereof a window paned with a transparent dome-shapedmember 35 to make the foodstuff visible from the outside. The handle 31has a central portion bridging the window 35 and the other end thereofso arranged as to engage a manually operated lever 36. The manuallyoperated lever 36 is made of plastic and is provided with a metal plate37 secured to the lever 36 by a screw member 38. The metal plate 37 hastherein an opening 39 adjacent the upper end thereof and a cam 40 at thelower end thereof. The cam 40 is pivotally mounted to a support member(not shown) secured to the side wall of the container and engages a leafspring 41 when the lever 36 is pushed toward the lid 12. In thisinstance, with the lid placed in the closed position, the manuallyoperated lever 36 is moved to a position so that the opening 39 receivesa projection 42 secured to the open side of the handle 31 so as to putthe lid 12 in the locked condition.

On the outer side wall of the container 10 and adjacent the lower end ofthe lever 36 is mounted a housing 64 of a moulded plastic. On the outerside wall of the housing 64 is slidably mounted a temperature controlknob 43 provided with a bar or rod 44 having an opening at itsextremity. In the housing 64, the upper end of a guide member 45 isslidably received through the opening and the lower end of the guidemember 45 is pivotally secured to a support member 46 of a thermostat 47by a screw member 48. The thermostat 47 has a pair of contacts 49 and abimetal contact 50 connected to a temperature sensing element 51extending fluid-tightly into the container 10. The slidable movement ofthe control knob 43 will cause the adjusting screw 48 to move axiallytoward or away from the contacts 49 so that the position of the contacts49 is varied accordingly with respect to the bimetal 50. The housingalso has a leg 52 extending downwardly therebeneath.

The basin 11 may be a moulded plastic and is provided with a pluralityof recesses 53 so arranged on the inner side wall of the basin 11 as toreceive the legs 52 so that the container 10 is securely carried on thebasin 11. The basin has also therein a boss 54 formed on the bottomthereof, a pair of handles 55 and a spout 56 adjacent the upper endthereof confronting the lower end of a duct 57 provided on the outerside wall of the container 10. In the basin there is situated adistributing disc 58 having a plurality of smaller openings 59, a mediumopening 60 and a larger opening 61 and a circular rim 62 on the edgethereof extending vertically and downwardly. The smaller openings 59 maybe preferably arranged radially and have diameters differing so that theouter openings have a larger diameter than the inner ones. A cylinder 63preferably of rubber or the like is fitted in the larger opening 61 atthe lower end thereof. The upper end of the cylinder 63 is brought intointimate contact with the lower side of the bottom of the container 10and generally in alignment with the vent pipe 30 when the distributingdisc 58 is situated in the basin so thatthe boss 54 is received throughthe medium opening 60.

In operation, the basket 24 is filled with an article of food: the lid12 is placed on the container: the basin 11 is filled with water: andthe container is placed in position on the basin. Then the current ispassed through the heater 13 to heat up the frying oil. When the fryingoil is heated up the basket 24 is lowered by means of the hand knob 20so that the foodstuff is immersed into the hot frying oil. During fryingoperation, fumes produced in the container are exhausted through thevent pipe 30 into the water in the basin 11, and are allowed to float upin the form of bubbles and broken up into smaller bubbles by means ofthe distributing disc 58 as they squeeze their way through the openings59. Since the openings 59 are so arranged that the outer openings havelarger diameter than the inner ones as described before, the bubbles aredistributed uniformly throughout the basin. This arrangement aids inincreasing the entire surface area of the bubbles and thus increases theefficiency of deodorization. The deodorized air is then allowed toescape through the spout 56 out into the atmosphere. Slurry arising fromthe foodstuff will build up on the upper surface of the shielding disc58 so as to reduce the need for cleaning the bottom of the container.Water droplets arising from watercontaining foodstuff will be collectedin the gutter 17: if the shielding disc 58 is not provided, thewaterdroplets would be violently evaporated upon contact with the heater13, thus causing a bumping in the frying oil.

Although the present embodiment employs the manually operated lever 36for holding the lid in the locked position so as to overcome the insideair pressure, this lever may be dispensed with if a lid having a weightsufficient to overcome the air pressure is used instead. In addition,the water-containing basin may be constructed as a separate unit whichcan be placed anywhere outside the frying appliance if the vent pipe isflexible and has an appropriate length.

All modifications of the present embodiment will be apparent tothose'skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the presentinvention. Therefore, the present embodiment is only illustrative andnot restrictive.

What is claimed is:

1. A frying appliance comprising: a basin for holding water andincluding means for communication between the inside thereof with theatmosphere; a container for holding frying oil, closure means forfluid-tightly sealing said container; a heating arrangement for applyingheat to said frying oil; and vent means arranged to providecommunication between the space inside said container and the spaceinside said basin, whereby fumes emanated from the foodstuff duringcooking are led through said vent means and dissolve in said water.

2. A frying appliance as claimed in claim 1, wherein said basin includesa distributing disc having a plurality of openings therein.

3. A frying appliance as claimed in claim 2, wherein said openings arearranged radially, the diameter of said openings increasing radiallytoward the periphery of said disc.

4. A frying appliance as claimed in claim 1, wherein said heatingarrangement includes an electric heater positioned on the lower portionthereof and a shielding plate overlying said heater so as to preventsaid heater from contacting with water droplets created bywatercontaining foodstuff.

5. A frying appliance as claimed in claim 4, wherein said shieldingplate is upwardly concave shaped and provided with an annular grooveformed around the edge thereof so as to receive said water droplets insaid groove.

6. A frying appliance as claimed in claim 5, wherein said shieldingplate has a plurality of slots, said slots facing substantiallyhorizontally outwardly and radially arranged on said shielding plate.

7. A frying appliance as claimed in claim 1, wherein said closure meanshas a lid including an arcuate surface so as to drain off the watercondensed inside of said surface toward its periphery and a concavetransparent member adapted in the central portion thereof.

8. A frying appliance as claimed in claim 1, wherein said container hasa rim thereon and a plurality of grooves on said rim and a verticallyextending conduit 10. A frying appliance as claimed in claim 1, whereinsaid basin carries laterally extending-handles formed on the outer sidethereof and is arranged to be detachable from said container.

1. A frying appliance comprising: a basin for holding water andincluding means for communication between the inside thereof with theatmosphere; a container for holding frying oil, closure means forfluid-tightly sealing said container; a heating arrangement for applyingheat to said frying oil; and vent means arranged to providecommunication between the space inside said container and the spaceinside said basin, whereby fumes emanated from the foodstuff duringcooking are led through said vent means and dissolve in said water.
 2. Afrying appliance as claimed in claim 1, wherein said basin includes adistributing disc having a plurality of openings therein.
 3. A fryingappliance as claimed in claim 2, wherein said openings are arrangedradially, the diameter of said openings increasing radially toward theperiphery of said disc.
 4. A frying appliance as claimed in claim 1,wherein said heating arrangement includes an electric heater positionedon the lower portion thereof and a shielding plate overlying said heaterso as to prevent said heater from contacting with water droplets createdby water-containing foodstuff.
 5. A frying appliance as claimed in claim4, wherein said shielding plate is upwardly concave shaped and providedwith an annular groove formed around the edge thereof so as to receivesaid water droplets in said groove.
 6. A frying appliance as claimed inclaim 5, wherein said shielding plate has a plurality of slots, saidslots facing substantially horizontally outwardly and radially arrangedon said shielding plate.
 7. A frying appliance as claimed in claim 1,wherein said closure means has a lid including an arcuate surface so asto drain off the water condensed inside of said surface toward itsperiphery and a concave transparent member adapted in the centralportion thereof.
 8. A frying appliance as claimed in claim 1, whereinsaid container has a rim thereon and a plurality of grooves on said rimand a vertically extending conduit pipe arranged adjacent the outer wallof said container, said conduit pipe being in communication at one endwith one of said grooves for discharging the condensed water into saidbasin.
 9. A frying appliance as claimed in claim 8, wherein said basinincludes a spout confronting the other end of said conduit pipe so as toreceive said discharged water.
 10. A frying appliance as claimed inclaim 1, wherein said basin carries laterally extending handles formedon the outer side thereof and is arranged to be detachable from saidcontainer.